One of the major contributions in the social science of the post-Vietnam era has been the initiation of a new discourse on the psychology of gender. If one were pressed to identify the prototypical statement of this fresh field, the most justifiable candidate would be Dorothy Dinnerstein's book, The Mermaid and the Minotaur. Dinnerstein's thesis is that mother-monopolised child-rearing deforms both male and female psychological development, engendering semi-monstrous mythical figures bound together symbiotically rather than complementary human beings in creative, loving (...) relation. The social confounding of child-rearing with mothering implies a process of development that confronts boys with an abrupt disidentification. For girls, on the other hand, it is the continuity of identification that presents problems. This article presents an interview with Dinnerstein on the relationship between gender development and war. 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (shrink)

This book is, as the editor claims, the first collection of essays dedicated to Berkeley’s Three Dialogues between Hylas and Philonous. It also derives largely from a conference held at Trinity College, Dublin in 2014. The editor, therefore, was somewhat at the mercy of those who submitted papers to the conference to determine the contents of the volume. In pointing this out, I do not intend to be casting aspersions on the quality of the papers included. By and large, the (...) contributors are among the most prominent Berkeley scholars working today and the quality is high. I will want, however, to think about the extent to which this collection provides materials for an overall understanding and assessment of Three... (shrink)

This book, a collection of articles on women's contributions to the history of philosophy, can accurately be described as long-awaited. Originally conceived in, I gather, roughly its present form in 2006, it is now finally in 2019 reaching the light of day. Although unavoidable delays are always a pity, in this case the result is certainly worth the wait, and the significantly high quality of the volume has not been undercut by its belated appearance. In 2006, the editors secured contributions (...) from most of the leading contributors to the field of women in the history of philosophy, and since twelve years is not all that long a time, they remain leading contributors. Anyone interested in teaching, writing about, or... (shrink)

Examines Lucretius ' solution to the problem of perceptual relativity that was posed by ancient skeptics as a challenge to the possibility of knowledge based on the senses. The solution, having to do with differences among individuals in the ' pores ' through which effluences enter the body, is fundamental to Lucretius ' Epicurean epistemology. There are interesting problems, however, with some of the cases, and it is also interesting to note the disturbing element of violence in Lucretius ' description (...) of the mechanics of perception in these cases, an effort perhaps to address the reader at a more emotional level. The results are applicable also to the "honeyed cup" simile which Lucretius uses for his own philosophical therapy. (shrink)

The editors cull the works of 11 noted French and German philosophers for their contributions to the debate about what animals are like and how we should relate to them. Each selection gives the gist of the philosopher's view followed by a noted scholar's comments. The result, as Peter Singer notes in his merciless Foreward, is that most of the Continentals have had almost nothing of interest to say on the topic.

These 13 papers try to clarify the nature of literary reference and to show that such reference is a feature of all interpretation. The essays divide into three categories: those delimiting types of reference and their interrelationships, those precising the nature of a particular type,and those concerning the role of reference in literary theory.

Comme son titre l’indique, l’ouvrage, publié en 2012 et édité par Margaret Jolly, Christine Stewart et Carolyn Brewer, vise à réinvestir la question de la violence en Papouasie Nouvelle Guinée (PNG) à partir d’une lecture par le genre : il s’agit de « genrer » (engender) la violence, dans un pays où elle apparaît omniprésente. Les huit chapitres du livre, écrits en majorité par des anthropologues sur un terrain classique de l’anthropologie, s’inscrivent ainsi dans l’abondante littérature prod...